


Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

by wickedlupin



Category: Cipher (Manga)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 04:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17155526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedlupin/pseuds/wickedlupin
Summary: Cipher and Anise go on a Christmas Eve date.  Takes place around the end of the manga.





	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jojjo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jojjo/gifts).



> Written for Jojjo for the Cipher secret santa in our discord server!!

Anise was starting to regret wearing a skirt. Even with the tights underneath, her legs were cold, and Cipher was _late._ She shuffled her feet, rubbing her legs together a bit in a vain effort to warm them. The Rockefeller center was packed, as she knew it would be on Christmas Eve, but Cipher had begged to come skating with her, and as always, she couldn’t refuse him.

And now he had left her standing in the cold for twenty minutes past their agreed upon meeting time.

“You’re wearing a skirt!” his familiar voice finally called, and she looked up to find his face in the crowd.

“You’re late!” she countered, arms crossed.

“Sorry. Lost track of time.”

“That’s it?! You’re the one who wanted to come skating in the first place!”

Cipher smiled, unbothered by her irritation, and took her hand. “Sorry! Come on, let’s get our skates.”

Anise’s anger melted away quickly. They rented skates, laced them up, and took to the ice. “I’ll race you around the rink,” Anise challenged, letting go of Cipher’s hand and taking off, weaving between people.

“Hey!” she heard Cipher yell from behind her, and she grinned, speeding up more. She was decent at skating; she and Rob had gone skating together a lot when she was younger. But the ice was crowded with inexperienced skaters. A young boy slid right into her path. She veered to the right to go around him, but at the last moment, he fell backward right back in her way. She couldn’t stop fast enough, she was going to collide—

Arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back, stopping her just before she tripped over the boy.

“Cipher!”

“Maybe racing with this many people around isn’t the best idea.”

Her face flushed with embarrassment, but it was indistinguishable from the flush her skin already had from the cold. She buried her face down further in the soft folds of her scarf. “Alright,” she murmured.

Cipher left a hand on her waist as they resumed skating together, more slowly to avoid collision. She leaned into him, savoring the warmth he gave off. He was different, since returning to New York, but not necessarily in a bad way. He seemed more grown up. More independent. But his bratty nature was still there underneath it, and Anise was silently glad it hadn’t disappeared entirely. It’s part of what made him Cipher, and part of what made her love him.

The white Christmas lights twinkled around them, and even with her legs numb from the bitter winter air, she decided she was really glad to have this time with him. She smiled. “This was actually a good idea, Cipher,” she said. He stuck his tongue out at her.

“Told you.” Anise rolled her eyes, and he laughed. She felt him press a kiss to her hair. “Thanks for coming with me.”

She looked up at him, and without hesitating put her hands on his shoulders to lean up and kiss him. It was far from their first kiss, but somehow, every kiss they shared seemed to increase in tenderness and emotion as their relationship grew and grew. They had stopped being friendly kisses. Now they promised something much more.

As she pulled away from him again, the wind picked up, blowing her hat from her head. She easily could have ignored it, all caught up in Cipher, but he stooped down to pick it up, replacing it on her head and tugging it down over her ears. He let his hands linger on her face and kissed her again.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Very,” she answered truthfully. “I should have just worn pants.”

“You look great in a skirt, though! I like it.”

“It’s just not practical!” Anise insisted. “It’s freezing out here! They just don’t make tights thick enough for this kind of cold!”

Cipher laughed at her, and she pouted. “Let’s go, then. You’ll come over, right?”

Of course she would. “Yeah. I have a gift to give to Siva before you both leave tonight.”

“Do you have one for me?” Cipher asked coyly.

“No, nothing for you,” Anise answered coldly, plopping down to take off her skates.

Cipher’s face fell. He looked incredibly disappointed, and Anise almost felt bad for messing with him. She hit him on the back. “I’m just kidding, dummy. Of course I have a gift for you.”

He grinned at her slyly, and Anise couldn’t believe she had let herself pity him at all.

  


* * *

  


When they got home, Siva was sitting at the table with Lev, and Ellie curled up in his lap. She looked up when Cipher and Anise entered, sporting a festive red and green striped bow.

Anise was glad for the warmth of the apartment. She quickly began stripping off her scarf and hat, making herself at home.

“You’re back earlier than I thought you’d be,” Siva said, stroking Ellie between the ears.

“It’s freezing out there!” Anise explained, rubbing her hands together to try to bring feeling back into her fingers. She grabbed a blanket and flopped onto the couch, wrapping herself up in it.

Cipher paused by the table to talk to Siva. “What time do we need to leave for Brooklyn?”

“By eight at the latest, so we can get in at a reasonable time.”

“Okay.”

Cipher joined Anise on the couch, taking half of her blanket without even asking. “Hey!” she protested, but Cipher quieted her with a kiss on the cheek. She smiled, and took his hand beneath the blanket. “Are you nervous about spending Christmas with your mom?”

“Mm… maybe a little,” Cipher answered truthfully. “But only because it’s been so long, and we’re still patching things up, I guess. I think things will be okay.”

Anise squeezed his hand. “I know they will be.”

Siva switched on the radio, filling the house with Christmas carols played at a reasonable volume, and set about making four mugs of hot chocolate. He handed her the first one when it was ready.

“Thanks, Siva!” she chirped, releasing Cipher’s hand so she could wrap her hands around the warm mug. She waited for Cipher to complain that he wanted one, too—but the childish protest never came. She looked up at him in surprise, her expectations thrown.

“What?” he asked.

“Oh—nothing.” She smiled at him. “It’s nice and warm.”

“Here’s one for you, too,” Siva said, offering the next mug to Cipher.

“Thanks, Jake!”

Anise sipped at the rich drink, leaning her shoulder against Cipher’s. Siva sat down at the table again with a mug each for himself and Lev. The carols continued to spill from the radio; slow, nostalgic tunes that warmed her up almost as much as the hot chocolate.

_“Through the years, we all will be together…”_

Looking around at her friends like this, Anise felt her heart swell. Everything was right again.


End file.
